In Honor of Edward Abbey

If my decomposing carcass helps nourish the roots of a juniper tree or the wings of a vulture - that is immortality enough for me. And as much as anyone deserves. ~Edward Abbey


Edward Abbey would have been 85 today had death not taken him 19889 at the young age of 62. When the United States lost Edward Abbey, we lost one of the great voices of our time, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, my absolute favorite author of all time.

I first discovered Ed by accident. It was near the end of my college career when I was tired of reading only technical books for my studies. I didn't want to read anything else about thermodynamics, linear algebra, electrical engineering, the sciences so I hit the local book store and discovered the book "Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness". . It was a raucous ride, one that I never wanted to end, still don't want to end. (I have since read that book 3 additional times.) I sought out all of his books, read them cover to cover savoring every word espoused in his "Earth First!" view in which he glorified all things wild and wonderful, untamed and free, called upon his fellow man to destroy anything that would, like the Glen Canyon dam, chain the natural world or, like the bulldozer, gouge deep wounds into the fragile land.

Reading his works introduced me to a world of red rock and red canyons and red spires and rivers running red with sediment, introduced me into the world of Southeastern Utah for which I am forever grateful for it has become my favorite place on this earth, the most beautiful creation of God's artistic hand. Ed gave me a love for the written word, a love for crafting words into metaphor, into ideas too radical for the mainstream to ingest and pass thru without a profound change in their psyche.

Ed inspired me to put pen to paper, to capture word, to construct metaphor, to create images, to link together sentences into prose and poetry. The elegance of Ed's writing, stirred my creative juices, kicked off in me the most prolific writing years of my life, years which found me crafting daily, crafting essays, crafting poems, crafting images in word.

One words is worth a thousand pictures. If it's the right word. ~Edward Abbey

Readers have a love or hate relationship with Ed's writing. There are no in-betweeners, none can read one of his books remain unmoved, remain unchanged. A reader of Ed's writing was either appalled at his view of man being a cancerous growth needing to be excised for the good of this lovely planet or, like me and his legions of fans, a kindred spirit that sees the earth as our mother deserving all of our love.

To Edward Paul Abbey: Thank you for your inspiration. Thank you for expressing those challenging thoughts that cause some to cringe and others to resonate with joy. Thanks for opening up to me the beauty hidden in the stark, red, desert landscapes in which few have the courage to set foot or an eye that understands it's beauty. Thank you for being you. May the vultures that disposed of your body soar forever over the land that you loved, the land that will forever cradle you bones.